We live in an age that promotes transparency and the sharing of information indiscriminately. Good or evil, with blatant disregard for the souls of those who might happen upon it, information and facts are being regurgitated and spewed out upon the face of the earth like some new form of pollution. The industry of sensationalism is creating a thick layer of toxic information waste on the surface of the planet that its poor inhabitants must wade through on a daily basis. Searching for the information we need increasingly resembles dumpster diving. The clouds that store our precious data also allow an endless torrent of acid “news” rain flooding our souls.
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
As we grow and develop in the Christian life, it is important to recognize that the struggle for holiness takes place at deeper and more hidden places in our soul. Perhaps we’ve grown in virtue enough that what people can judge of our actions is beyond reproach – perhaps we’ve become like the “just man,” mentioned in the psalms. At that point, temptations to sins of the flesh – gluttony, lust, greed, etc. – may seem to have vanished. Temptation does not only come from undisciplined flesh however. Temptation is also planted, sown in us by an enemy. So when certain struggles of the flesh seem to have vanished or dried up, new and more subtle seeds of evil are being planted in us. Undisciplined and impenitent flesh is fertile soil for obvious sins of the flesh, but self-discipline and self-control are fertile soil for the hidden sins of the spirit. The goal of the spiritual life is not to eliminate temptation – if we begin to believe that we do not experience temptation anymore, and that because we do not we are more perfect, we are preparing the ground for sins of pride, arrogance, self-importance, vanity, etc. It would be better for us to continue in the sins of the flesh with humble recognition and tears of repentance, than in claiming victory over these sins to have our spirit puffed up with pride.
Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The one who bears our burdens with us and for us is not weak at all. He is the Almighty, and can suffer no change in what He is. When we suffer, we may experience anxiety at the kind of change we experience. Suffering reminds us that we are susceptible to destructive change, so, naturally, we do not seek it out. God wants to encourage us through what we suffer – He has sent Jesus to bear with us the trials of life. Jesus did not endure these trials in an apparently invincible way – He seems to be defeated by them until He manifests the resurrection. Whatever we may suffer, Jesus bears it with us, it is only for a time. He does not command us to bear our sufferings as though they cause us no distress – Jesus Himself showed signs of distress when He suffered. But He invites us, through suffering, to grow in gentleness and humility. Since Divinity cannot be altered by suffering, we see revealed in Jesus how suffering actually transforms our humanity into something divine. The secret is not to discover how to eliminate or avoid all suffering, but to learn from Jesus – in the midst of our sufferings – compassion and humility.